Being of the nobly independent sex, between fifteen
and sixteen he practically free himself from parental control. The use
he made of his liberty was not altogether pleasing to John, but the
time for restraint and training had hopelessly gone by. The lad was
selfish, that there was no denying; he grudged the money demanded of
him for his support; but in other matters he always showed himself so
easy-tempered, so disposed to a genial understanding, that the great
fault had to be blinked. Many failings might have been forgiven him in
consideration of the fact that he had never yet drunk too much, and
indeed cared little for liquor.

Men of talent, as you are aware, not seldom exhibit low tastes in their
choice of companionship. Bob was a case in point; he did not
sufficiently appreciate social distinctions. He, who wore a collar,
seemed to prefer associating with the collarless. There was Jack--more
properly 'Jeck'--Bartley, for instance, his bosom friend until they
began to cool in consequence of a common interest in Miss Peckover.
Jack never wore a collar in his life, not even on Sundays, and was
closely allied with all sorts of blackguards, who somehow made a living
on the outskirts of turf-land. And there was Eli Snape, compared with
whom Jack was a person of refinement and culture. Eli dealt
surreptitiously in dogs and rats, and the mere odour of him was
intolerable to ordinary nostrils; yet he was a species of hero in Bob's
regard, such invaluable information could he supply with regard to
'events' in which young Hewett took a profound interest. Perhaps a more
serious aspect of Bob's disregard for social standing was revealed in
his relations with the other sex. Susceptible from his tender youth, he
showed no ambition in the bestowal of his amorous homage. At the age of
sixteen did he not declare his resolve to wed the daughter of old Sally
Budge, who went about selling watercress? and was there not a desperate
conflict at home before this project could be driven from his head? It
was but the first of many such instances. Had he been left to his own
devices, he would already, like numbers of his coevals, have been
supporting (or declining to support) a wife and two or three children.
At present he was 'engaged' to Clem Peckover; that was an understood
thing. His father did not approve it, but this connection was
undeniably better than those he had previously declared or concealed.
Bob, it seemed evident, was fated t